FEEDING THE HEDONIC GHOST
This body of work evolved through an analysis of the physical and psychological stress of living in a society propelled by hedonic eating, eating for pleasure rather than survival. With food so accessible and abundant, we are continuously tempted and haunted by it, locked in a cycle of desire, satiation and discontent.
Feeding the Hedonic Ghost
MFA Thesis Exhibition: May 23 - 28, 2016
Alvin Gittins Gallery, University of Utah
During the opening night of the exhibition, guests were invited to interact with two sculptural pieces: Sunny and Blue Skies with a 15% Chance of Cross Contamination and Time Machine. Time Machine extended beyond opening night, but Sunny and Blue Skies with a 15% Chance of Cross Contamination was a singular interaction.
Sunny and Blue Skies with a 15% Chance of Cross Contamination:
The idea behind this piece came from the experience of being tempted by an innocent and seemingly safe desire then claiming it only to find the unexpected. This circumstance is often met by those with food allergies whose joy can quickly turn to a nightmare.
Upon entering the gallery, visitors could smell the sugary warmth of freshly baked donuts on the air. In the center of the gallery next to the Time Machine was a large table blanketed with an assortment of soft donuts, all clustered together and individually wrapped for anyone to consume, the piece Sunny and Blue Skies with a 15% Chance of Cross Contamination. In the center of the donut mass stood a monolithic pillar comprised of a large glass cylinder full of an opaque, black substance. Unbeknownst to the visitors, out of the 200 donuts available, a selection of 30 donuts sprinkled throughout the arrangement were injected with the black substance. Upon biting into one of these donuts, a visitor would taste an explosion of sour, lemon curd dyed black with added citric acid beyond what is palatable. Many guests were perplexed and unsure what to do after seeing the black curd saturating the center of their treat and their mouths full of the unknown. A few discretely dumped their donuts while others laughed and found the experience shocking yet fun. One guest found the sour curd to be a delicious compliment to the sweet glaze of the donut. To ensure safety, the sour curd and donuts were prepared by food professionals and a consumer and allergy warning were made visible and clear before guests partook of any food.
Time Machine:
As someone with Celiac disease, I continuously look for ways to gain the physical and emotional fulfillment that used to come with eating gluten filled foods. Inspired in part by Temple Grandin, I built a machine out of used work out equipment and an old hair drying unit to give me a sensorial experience that might help to calm these desires. To use the Time Machine, the visitor lays face down and places their face over the opening of the drying dome. The hair drying unit contains a fresh donut covered in cinnamon sugar specially handmade by my Mom with our family recipe. The donut sits in the vent where warm air passes to fill the dome. Breathing in the warm donut air, you place your hands on the two winch cranks balanced with buckets of wheat flour and turn them to lower the body pads which squeeze with comforting pressure below the shoulders and along the thighs and glutes.
Inside the vending machine:
Within Memory Bank: Inaccessibly Accessible, there were 50 small paintings ranging in dimension between 5" x 5" to
12" x 12". There were also 30 fake paintings, blank squares of masonite, among the real paintings. Each person waiting in line could make only one purchase. If you looked closely, you would've seen faint halos of color behind the white packaging, revealing the real paintings. However, several of the real paintings were also packaged backwards and appeared to be fakes. Once someone made a purchase, they were either satisfied or significantly dissatisfied, even to the point of screaming as one visitor did.
If you think you can see repeats, look closely, each painting is unique even if it has a close twin.
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Click image to read the supporting project paper for Feeding the Hedonic Ghost.